Clasp for garment supporters



Marci 28, 1939.

J. R. PARKER CLASP FOR GARMENT SUPPORTERS Filed March 1, 1937 14 Ewe/afar L75/c, F Par/Fe! IZZy,

Patented Mar. 28, 1939 PATENT OFFIE CLASP FOR GARNIENT SUPPORTERS John Robie Parker, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,

assignor to Fred Page Higgins, Toronto, On-

tario, Canada Application March 1, 1937, Serial No. 128,500

4 Claims. (01. 24-4245) The invention relates to improvements in clasps for garment supporters as described in the present specification and shown in the accompanying drawing that forms a part of the same.

The invention concerns particularly that typ of hose supporter which comprises broadly a base member having an upstanding button adapted to underlie the garment, and a metal clasp, or keeper, having an opening of the so-called keyhole type therein for the reception of the button I and the surrounding portion of the garment.

While this type of clasp has achieved a greater degree of popularity than any other type, due principally to its simplicity and ease of operation, it is well known that it has several serious faults,

. the correction of which, without relinquishing the good features of the type, have been attempted by many persons without success.

One of the chief faults of this type of clasp as produced heretofore is that the button head projects outwardly from the keeper and causes'an unsightly bulge in the over-garments.

Another fault is that the strain on the hose is confined to too small an area, often causing a pull on a single thread or on a very limited number of adjacent threads with the result that even under ordinary strain such thread, or threads, are sometimes caused to run and thereby ruin the hose, while under the strain of an exceptional pull, as for instance when the wearer stoops forwardly to pick an object from the floor, or attains a squatting position, damage to the hose is practically unavoidable.

The above mentioned, and other, faults may be directly attributed to the fact that this type of clasp has depended for its grip on the pressure applied to the hose at two defined points at opposite sides of the button through the cooperation between the sides of the reduced lower portion of the keeper and the neck of the button, thus confining the strain to these two points'and as a consequence making it necessary to construct the button of a harder material than would be necessary were the clasp so designed that'the gripping strain is distributed throughout the entire area of the button.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a clasp which will present a smooth, flat surface allthe way from the supporting elastic at the top of the clasp to the lower end of the clasp, with extreme thinnessover allthis distance and maintaining at the same time the desirable feature of themetal loop, rubber button type of clasp; to provide a clasp utilizing the maximum amount of rubber in a given size of clasp and so designed as to distribute the gripping strain over the entire area of the button, thus improving the gripping functions of the clasp and making possible the use of a softer rubber than it has heretofore been possible to use, whereby to reduce to a minimum the danger of injury to the stocking.

The invention consists in the novel features of construction, arrangements and combinations of parts described in the present specification and more particularly pointed out in the claims for novelty following.

In describing the invention reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved clasp as it appears when open.

Figure 2 is a front view of the clasp in its closed condition, with a portion of the soft rubber button shown in section.

Figure 3 is a side view of the clasp in its open condition.

Figure 4 is a side view of the clasp in its closed condition.

Figure 5 is a front view of a slightly modified form of the invention, a portion of the rubber button being shown in section.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I employ a rigid loop, or keeper, l which may be constructed of wire, or of sheet metal, or other suitable material and which is provided with a cross slot 2 at the top end thereof for the reception of the supporting elastic commonly used in hose supporters.

The keeper l is cut away, or otherwise shaped, to provide therein an elongated opening 3 which preferably extends throughout the greater portion of the length of the body of the keeper. The opposingside walls of this opening converge inwardly sharply for equal distances at opposite points, preferably, though not necessarily, slightly below the longitudinal centre of the opening whereby to reduce the width of said opening throughout the lower portion, as indicated by the numeral 4, and to provide lateral shoulders 5 and 6 respectively at opposite sides of the top end of the said reduced portion.

1 is a flexible tab, or base member, which is adapted to be secured at its one end to the keeper at a point above the opening 3 and to extend downwardly parallel with said keeper so as to underlie the same. This tab may be constructed of soft rubber, or rubber, composition, or of other suitably resilient and flexible material, and must necessarily be of greater width than the widest part of the opening 3 so that it will not accidently pass through said opening.

The tab, or base, I has an integral boss 8 rising from the outer face thereof and constituting a button adapted to underlie the stocking and with the keeper l cooperating to hold said stocking securely.

The button 8 is of the required width to permit of its entering the large opening 3 but is necessarily of greater width than the reduced lower portion 4 of said opening and said button is provided around its lower end and along portions of its sides with a groove 9 of such depth that the neck of the button thus formed will slide between the opposed walls of the said reduced portion 4. The groove 9 in the edge of the button extends upwardly on each side a distance equal to the length of the side walls of the reduced part of the opening and terminates at opposite sides of the button in shoulders l0 and H which follow the contour of the shoulders 5 and 6 and preferably extend at substantially right angles to the longitudinal axis of the keeper.

The length of the button 8 preferably exceeds that of the opening in the keeper by an amount almost equal to the depth of the groove 9 around the lower end of the button so that when the keeper has been placed over the button and the portion of the stocking overlying same the opening in said keeper will be completely filled.

In the operation of this invention the soft rubber base member carrying the button 8 is placed beneath the stocking and the lower end of the button and the overlying portion of the stocking is then inserted in the large opening 3 in the keeper I and moved downwardly, with the opposing side walls of the reduced portion 4 of the opening sliding within the groove 9, until the neck of the button has reached its lowermost limit in the reduced lower portion 4 of the opening and the upper portion of the button with the overlying portion of the stocking has completely entered and filled the larger opening in the keeper.

It will thus be apparent that the stocking is now not only held at the lower end of the clasp and along the opposing sides thereof for the length of the reduced portion of the opening in the keeper through the cooperation of the walls of the keeper with the neck of button as has been the case with the clasps of this type known hitherto, but it is in addition held throughout the entire length of the clasp above the reduced portion of the opening in the keeper through the cooperation of the sides of the keeper and the upper portion of the button, as indicated at l2, and is also held transversely at the top end of the keeper between the top end of the button and the wall of the opening as shown at l3, and, most important of all the stocking is spread at each side of the clasp over the shoulders 5 and 6 and securely locked between said shoulders and the shoulders Ill and II. This spreading of the stocking and providing a grip extended over a great number of threads at opposite sides of and beyond the neck of the button and at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the clasp tends to ease the strain of the grip along the lower sides of the clasp and therefore distributes the strain over a very much greater number of threads of the fabric than has been the case hithereto.

Owing to the fact that the button completely fills the whole interior of the keeper and cooperates therewith to provide a gripping engagement with the stocking throughout the whole area of the keeper the button may be constructed of very much softer and more resilient material than it has heretofore been advisable to use when the grip Was confined to a relatively small area.

The use of a softer rubber not only reduces the danger of injury to the garment but also permits of the enlargement of the area of the button in relation to the opening in the keeper, as the more resilient rubber can readily be forced into the opening when of the same, or even slightly greater, outside dimensions than said opening.

If desirable the button 8 may be provided with one or more grooves M in the face thereof, preferably extending transversely of the button, whereby to increase the flexibility of the device. Such groove, or grooves, may be of any required depth and may if desirable even extend to the base 1 and thus divide the button into two or more distinct sections.

In Figure 5 a modified construction is shown in which the opposite Walls of the opening in the keeper, above the intermediate shoulders diverge slightly from the top as shown at I5, and the button is shaped accordingly to further improve the grip along the sides of the clasp.

The present invention provides a simple and eflicient clasp having unusual holding qualities combined with extreme flatness and while the preferred embodiment and certain modifications have been shown herein and described it is of course to be understood that alterations in details of construction and arrangements of parts as come within the scope of the appended claims for novelty may be made.

What I claim is:

1.,A clasp for a garment supporter comprising a rigid member having an elongated button opening formed therein, said opening being reduced in width from opposite sides thereof from a point intermediate of its length to the lower end thereof, the walls of the opening at the point of reduction providing interior opposed lateral shoulders, and a flexible member having an integral elongated button adapted to interlock with said rigid member within the lower reduced portion of the opening therein, said button being grooved along opposite side edges to provide opposed lateral shoulders adapted to cooperate with the first mentioned shoulders.

2. A clasp for a garment supporter comprising a rigidkeeper having an elongated button opening formed therein, the side walls of said opening providing intermediate lateral shoulders at opposite sides of said grooved button opening, a flexible tab secured to said keeper above the button opening and adapted to underlie said keeper, said tab having an elongated integral button adapted to interlock with said lateral shoulders and with the opposing side walls of said button opening below said shoulders, said button also having a part adapted to extend upwardly within the large part of the button opening and cooperating with the walls of said opening to grip the fabric over the entire inner periphery of the keeper.

3. A clasp for a garment supporter comprising a rigid keeper having an interior elongated button opening of reduced width from a point intermediate of its length to the lower end thereof,

the side walls of said opening providing intermediate lateral shoulders at opposite sides of the top end of the reduced portion of said button opening, a flexible tab secured to said keeper above the button opening and adapted to underlie said keeper, said tab having an elongated button rising from the face thereof, said button being provided with a groove extending upwardly from the lower end thereof along its opposite sides a distance substantially equal to the length of the side walls of the reduced portion of said opening to slidablyvreceive said walls, and lateral shoulders formed at the top ends of said groove and extending parallel with the aforesaid shoulders from said keeper and cooperating therewith to provide gripping means extending at an angle in relation to the longitudinal axis of the keeper.

4. A clasp for a garment supporter comprising in combination, a rigid keeper formed to provide an interior opening of relatively large area towards the top end of the keeper and of sharply reduced width from a point intermediate of its length to the lower end thereof, the walls of the opening at the point of reduction providing opposed shoulders extending laterally in relation to the longitudinal axis of the keeper, and a flexible base member having an integral elongated button fitting within the large opening in the keeper and with the surrounding walls of said opening providing means for gripping the fabric, said button being grooved along its opposite sides for that portion of its length corresponding to the reduced lower portion of the opening to slidably receive the walls of said reduced portion and further to provide lateral shoulders adapted to cooperate with the first mentioned shoulders to grip the fabric.

JOHN ROBIE PARKER. 

